Published: Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 10:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 10:41 p.m.

Terrebonne voters next month will consider a half-cent sales tax that could raise more than $330 million to finish and maintain the locally built Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection system.

The tax would also provide for additional hurricane protection in Dularge, Bayou Black and Gibson.

Terrebonne Parish levee officials said the tax is necessary as it becomes increasingly unlikely that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will build a larger, federally financed Morganza project. Because of stricter construction standards, the cost to build the corps' levee project has risen from $880 million to as much as $10 billion.

The half-cent sales tax, which would expire after 28 years, would raise about $12 million a year in Terrebonne to help the Levee District finance a locally constructed Morganza levee system.

Early voting for the Dec. 8 election begins Saturday and extends through Dec. 1.

Voters can cast early ballots from 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the Terrebonne Parish Registrar of Voters Office on the first floor of the Courthouse Annex, 7856 Main St., Houma. The office is closed Nov. 25.

Without an additional local source of money, Morganza could go unfinished for a decade or longer, parish levee officials said.

“We started building this interim system on our own after the 2008 hurricanes and we've been very successful,” said Terrebonne Levee Director Reggie Dupre. “But if we want to finish, we'll need additional revenue.”

Dupre added that after 20 years of study on the corps' Morganza project, “not one federal dollar has been spent.”

The stakes are high for the Levee District. In 2006, voters rejected a proposal from the Terrebonne Parish government to approve a 1-cent sales tax for parish levee work. Dupre said he believes that proposal asked for too much money and included too few restrictions.

In addition to a sunset clause, the Levee Board has passed an amendment preventing any of the half-cent sales tax revenue from being used on studies or administrative salaries. It will all go to construction and maintenance. It can also be used only for Morganza projects and projects approved by the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.

Terrebonne voters already pay a parish quarter-cent sales tax that raises $6 million annually for the Levee District. That money, also dedicated to Morganza, has been bonded out to pay for a floodgate under construction in the Houma Navigation Canal. It is expected to be finished next year for hurricane season.

The district also brings in a property tax of 4.89 mills that raises about $3.7 million per year. This pays for the Levee District's $2.5 million in annual operating costs and non-Morganza levee projects such as maintenance of the Dularge levee system, Dupre said.

WHAT WILL THE TAX DO?

If the tax is approved, the Terrebonne Levee District plans to sell bonds, which could raise about $150 million immediately to pay for the levee project. It would use the tax money to repay the debt over the 28 years, Dupre said.

With the help of $34 million in infrastructure money from the state, the tax money would cover not only the cost of finishing Morganza-to-the-Gulf but would also pay for a $38 million project to build levees in Bayou Black and a $30 million project to build a floodgate and connecting levees in Falgout Canal in Dularge, and put $500,000 toward a permanent floodgate in Bayou Chene to protect against Atchafalaya River flooding.

Morganza is a system of levees and floodgates stretching from Dularge to Larose. After hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008, the Levee District opted to build a scaled-down version of the levee system along the corps' approved path with more than $220 million in state and local money.

So far, the Levee Board is building or is preparing to build 10-foot levees in lower Chauvin and Pointe-aux-Chenes and along Falgout Canal and the Houma Navigation Canal. The board also built floodgates in Placid and Bush canals and is building two more on the Houma Navigation Canal and Bayou Grand Caillou.

But the Levee District is $120 million short of what's needed to finish the Morganza project.

The Levee District needs an additional $75 million to build levees connecting Grand Caillou and Little Caillou, and for a floodgate on Bayou Little Caillou; $25 million to build levees connecting Montegut and Pointe-aux-Chenes; and $20 million for a levee and floodgate on Bayou Pointe-aux-Chenes.

Any work the Levee Board does on Morganza can be counted toward its share of the overall project's cost if the federal levee is eventually built.

About $8 million of the $12 million raised per year from the tax will be needed to pay off the bonds. The remaining $4 million per year that remains, or about $112 million over the lifetime of the tax, will be used to continue raising levees after the initial project is brought up to 10 feet, Levee District Manager Angela Rains said. Money will also be needed to maintain the levees and flood gates over time.

“Any major asset is worthless without proper maintenance,” she said. “All of our floodgates need dry-docking and maintenance every 10 years.”

OPINIONS VARY

Residents are split on their opinion of the tax.

Montegut resident Richard John LeBoeuf said he supports the tax because changes to the design of corps-constructed levees has caused the cost of the federal project to skyrocket.

“At this cost ($10 billion), a federally subsidized levee system grows more unlikely with each passing day,” LeBoeuf said. “In a perfect world, the cost of protecting homes and families would be inconsequential. But in this one, the only apparently hope Terrebonne and Lafourche residents have for levee protection comes from local tax revenue.”

Charlotte Liner of Houma agreed, adding that studies on the corps' Morganza project continue while the Levee District continued work on levee projects.

But resident Ronnie Campo of Houma wondered why a new tax was needed to pay for levees when Terrebonne Parish is exploring spending public money to build things like a new sports complex.

“If they spent the money wisely I might not mind voting for a tax increase, but they're not,” he said.

Kimberly Price Chauvin of Chauvin said she agrees that communities will have to pay for their own protection, but she wants to make sure restrictions ensuring the tax money will be spent on levee construction are locked in.

“Personally, I'd like to make sure that we're getting what we're going to pay for,” Chauvin said. “The distrust is due to decades upon decades of asking for things and getting nothing done.”

The tax has been endorsed by the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber board Chairman Billy Foster said the chamber voted unanimously to endorse the tax because “without protection, everything that we're doing on a daily basis, all the economic growth we're experiencing, continues to be exposed.”

After Hurricane Katrina, St. Bernard Parish lost 40 percent of its population. And LaPlace was unexpectedly destroyed by Hurricane Isaac.

“Everyone says, ‘It will never happen to us.' But when you look at the reality we're just as vulnerable as St. Bernard or LaPlace or Staten Island,” Foster said. “We want to support our businesses and our citizens, and the chamber is supporting this 100 percent. I don't know a more important issue for Terrebonne Parish.”

Nikki Buskey can be reached at 857-2205 or nicole.buskey@houmatoday.com.

<p>Terrebonne voters next month will consider a half-cent sales tax that could raise more than $330 million to finish and maintain the locally built Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection system.</p><p>The tax would also provide for additional hurricane protection in Dularge, Bayou Black and Gibson.</p><p>Terrebonne Parish levee officials said the tax is necessary as it becomes increasingly unlikely that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will build a larger, federally financed Morganza project. Because of stricter construction standards, the cost to build the corps' levee project has risen from $880 million to as much as $10 billion.</p><p>The half-cent sales tax, which would expire after 28 years, would raise about $12 million a year in Terrebonne to help the Levee District finance a locally constructed Morganza levee system.</p><p>Early voting for the Dec. 8 election begins Saturday and extends through Dec. 1.</p><p>Voters can cast early ballots from 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the Terrebonne Parish Registrar of Voters Office on the first floor of the Courthouse Annex, 7856 Main St., Houma. The office is closed Nov. 25.</p><p>Without an additional local source of money, Morganza could go unfinished for a decade or longer, parish levee officials said.</p><p>“We started building this interim system on our own after the 2008 hurricanes and we've been very successful,” said Terrebonne Levee Director Reggie Dupre. “But if we want to finish, we'll need additional revenue.”</p><p>Dupre added that after 20 years of study on the corps' Morganza project, “not one federal dollar has been spent.” </p><p>The stakes are high for the Levee District. In 2006, voters rejected a proposal from the Terrebonne Parish government to approve a 1-cent sales tax for parish levee work. Dupre said he believes that proposal asked for too much money and included too few restrictions.</p><p>In addition to a sunset clause, the Levee Board has passed an amendment preventing any of the half-cent sales tax revenue from being used on studies or administrative salaries. It will all go to construction and maintenance. It can also be used only for Morganza projects and projects approved by the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. </p><p>Terrebonne voters already pay a parish quarter-cent sales tax that raises $6 million annually for the Levee District. That money, also dedicated to Morganza, has been bonded out to pay for a floodgate under construction in the Houma Navigation Canal. It is expected to be finished next year for hurricane season. </p><p>The district also brings in a property tax of 4.89 mills that raises about $3.7 million per year. This pays for the Levee District's $2.5 million in annual operating costs and non-Morganza levee projects such as maintenance of the Dularge levee system, Dupre said.</p><h3>WHAT WILL THE TAX DO?</h3>
<p>If the tax is approved, the Terrebonne Levee District plans to sell bonds, which could raise about $150 million immediately to pay for the levee project. It would use the tax money to repay the debt over the 28 years, Dupre said.</p><p>With the help of $34 million in infrastructure money from the state, the tax money would cover not only the cost of finishing Morganza-to-the-Gulf but would also pay for a $38 million project to build levees in Bayou Black and a $30 million project to build a floodgate and connecting levees in Falgout Canal in Dularge, and put $500,000 toward a permanent floodgate in Bayou Chene to protect against Atchafalaya River flooding.</p><p>Morganza is a system of levees and floodgates stretching from Dularge to Larose. After hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008, the Levee District opted to build a scaled-down version of the levee system along the corps' approved path with more than $220 million in state and local money.</p><p>So far, the Levee Board is building or is preparing to build 10-foot levees in lower Chauvin and Pointe-aux-Chenes and along Falgout Canal and the Houma Navigation Canal. The board also built floodgates in Placid and Bush canals and is building two more on the Houma Navigation Canal and Bayou Grand Caillou.</p><p>But the Levee District is $120 million short of what's needed to finish the Morganza project.</p><p>The Levee District needs an additional $75 million to build levees connecting Grand Caillou and Little Caillou, and for a floodgate on Bayou Little Caillou; $25 million to build levees connecting Montegut and Pointe-aux-Chenes; and $20 million for a levee and floodgate on Bayou Pointe-aux-Chenes. </p><p>Any work the Levee Board does on Morganza can be counted toward its share of the overall project's cost if the federal levee is eventually built.</p><p>About $8 million of the $12 million raised per year from the tax will be needed to pay off the bonds. The remaining $4 million per year that remains, or about $112 million over the lifetime of the tax, will be used to continue raising levees after the initial project is brought up to 10 feet, Levee District Manager Angela Rains said. Money will also be needed to maintain the levees and flood gates over time.</p><p>“Any major asset is worthless without proper maintenance,” she said. “All of our floodgates need dry-docking and maintenance every 10 years.”</p><h3>OPINIONS VARY</h3>
<p>Residents are split on their opinion of the tax.</p><p>Montegut resident Richard John LeBoeuf said he supports the tax because changes to the design of corps-constructed levees has caused the cost of the federal project to skyrocket.</p><p>“At this cost ($10 billion), a federally subsidized levee system grows more unlikely with each passing day,” LeBoeuf said. “In a perfect world, the cost of protecting homes and families would be inconsequential. But in this one, the only apparently hope Terrebonne and Lafourche residents have for levee protection comes from local tax revenue.”</p><p>Charlotte Liner of Houma agreed, adding that studies on the corps' Morganza project continue while the Levee District continued work on levee projects.</p><p>But resident Ronnie Campo of Houma wondered why a new tax was needed to pay for levees when Terrebonne Parish is exploring spending public money to build things like a new sports complex.</p><p>“If they spent the money wisely I might not mind voting for a tax increase, but they're not,” he said.</p><p>Kimberly Price Chauvin of Chauvin said she agrees that communities will have to pay for their own protection, but she wants to make sure restrictions ensuring the tax money will be spent on levee construction are locked in.</p><p>“Personally, I'd like to make sure that we're getting what we're going to pay for,” Chauvin said. “The distrust is due to decades upon decades of asking for things and getting nothing done.”</p><p>The tax has been endorsed by the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce.</p><p>Chamber board Chairman Billy Foster said the chamber voted unanimously to endorse the tax because “without protection, everything that we're doing on a daily basis, all the economic growth we're experiencing, continues to be exposed.”</p><p>After Hurricane Katrina, St. Bernard Parish lost 40 percent of its population. And LaPlace was unexpectedly destroyed by Hurricane Isaac.</p><p>“Everyone says, 'It will never happen to us.' But when you look at the reality we're just as vulnerable as St. Bernard or LaPlace or Staten Island,” Foster said. “We want to support our businesses and our citizens, and the chamber is supporting this 100 percent. I don't know a more important issue for Terrebonne Parish.”</p><p>Nikki Buskey can be reached at 857-2205 or nicole.buskey@houmatoday.com.</p>